19. Coexistence

I am often surprised at which combinations of animals in the sea will sit or hover together very close, coexisting, with no attempt to eat or exclude the other. Last month I was on my way out to one of the best Giant Cuttlefish dens and I saw a Wobbegong, a kind of “carpet shark,” swimming by in the open. It wasn’t a large one, perhaps four or five feet long.

I arrived at the den and was pleased it see it was occupied, but then saw a Wobbegong, perhaps the same one, nose its way in, too. Af...